Sunday, March 1, 2015

Was shocked to discover this weekend about the near collapse of the 'neighbourhood'.
The well-know family chatting to me until 8pm were a bit fearful when two young men in bicycles passed in the darkened street. I then noticed how I was unable to see the parallel street and that I hadn't noticed lack of street-lightening before-- probably because other families would be up with their lights on... now as with the rest of Guyana.. many have left and with the extension of new housing areas, new people have moved into the area, without any community coordination.
The traditional urban lack of involvement seems to have extended to the rural areas and people are developing a 'living under siege' mentality.

Groups of youths are waylaying those unfortunate to have to return home from late work shifts.. even the men are fearful. An inequality among the working class seems to have arisen... those struggling to make ends meet and the rest preying on those who do. The woman next door, met up back with the man who she bred her second set of children with - now a drug dealer, who is supplying her with drugs to sell on to the local dealers while her teen daughters are allegedly well on their way to going the way of the elder daughter (with the drug supplier) flirting with prostitution, having been pulled out of school at varying times to do babysitting duties as required by the said feckless 'mother'.

Article 3 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.' Not happening by any stretch of imagination-- this can only lead to an increase in mental health problems ... the fact that half of mental health problems start by adolescence means more troubles ahead in a country that NEEDS the input from its youths. Berbice already has a ridiculously high suicide rate .. figures sadly not readily available... I mean these should be published yearly and made public by Region -- one always gets an impression of a cover-up or that the folks in Georgetown responsible for statistics are dimly aware of what's happening in the Regions-- but in country of less that 1 million people, I feel that would have to be deliberate ignorance!
Sadly any change of Government would not result in any improvement as I gloomily forsee just a changing of pigs at the trough.